- Cleaning Crews -

In anticipation of moving in, there was LOTS of cleaning to be done...

8am Sunday Mass to jumpstart the day...check!   

McDonald's coffee...check!

Donuts with extra sprinkles...check!

And letttttt's work the rest of the weekend away...check!

[October 2019]

Very thankful for all of my little helpers...

...and even a few big helpers, too! 

All this cleaning/hands-and-knees scrubbing calls for a break!

I loveeeee these dark hardwood floors, but I already know they're gonna be a beast to keep clean!  Anyone have dark floors and wanna share any good cleaning tips/tricks?!  If so, send them my way; your advice will not fall on deaf ears!!!

- Packing and Moving [Round 2] -

The long story short goes like this: after the house sold, we had 30 days to turn around and pack all the rest of the stuff we originally left inside to "stage" it for showings.  And oh my GOSH, [a very sarcastic] cheers! to! moving! again!  I literally cannot BELIEVE how much sh*t we've acquired over the past five years of living here, and I think know I could live the rest of my life without ever needing to tape up another large cardboard box and stuff it full of junk..... *gag*

Thankfully, we had some good little helpers... 

...and a few late night trips to Jack in the Box to put some pep in our step [fried tacos have a way of getting us through our worst times!]...

...because mannnn, oh man, packing and unpacking and arranging and rearranging F-O-U-R trailer loads of junk from the old house to the storage unit made for some exhausting evenings!

Alas! We finally loaded the last truck-full and pulled away with no regrets! 

Never looking back! 

Hasta luegoooooo, baby!

We officially have this listing/selling/packing/moving chapter behind us, and let me just say one thang: IT FEELS SO GOOD! :D 


 

- Packing and moving [round 1] and cleaning ...and cleaning some more... -

...'cause we're bustin' outta here!

What is happeningggg?! Hmmm, well!  So we could effectively deep clean the "old house" without tons of toys and clutter in the way and then KEEP the house clean for listing/showing/selling, we decided it would be best to pack everything up and bail!  Brian's brother has a bachelor pad juuuust down the street, and it just so happens to be vacant.  He so very kindly opened his door to us so we could crash there for a few months during the transition.  Saving grace who?  Yep Uncle Gar, that's you! The kids love Uncle Garett's pad and settled in just fine:

...minus that Scarlett fell off her little setup here after snoozing atop it all night and had to downgrade to the Pack 'n Play the next night...

...but she lived to tell the story and came back with a smile on her face, so meh! No biggie.

More days than not, we traipsed back over to the "old house" to pack more junk and scrub EVERYTHING.  The kids have become pros at window washing [I finally taught them how to use the Norwex rags after several sessions/smearings with baby wipes...], and Harper stays close to Daddy telling him he's doing a great job with this and that and everything in between!

Oh, and then this: by some super-human act of God, Brian tore down the .E.N.T.I.R.E. deck and raised it again in 3 days... BY HIMSELF, at that!!! I literally could not believe my eyes. He was just planning to replace the staircase that had started rotting out, but he just kept going...and going...and going... 

Me: "I can't believe you just built that whole thing this weekend..."
Brian: ...so nonchalantly... "Well, somebody's gotta do it."

^^ Looks amazing, I must say!!!

After Mr. Fix-It was finished with all his projects and all the sawdust settled, we just had a few more things to do:  storm through the house for the final cleaning sesh and paint the living room wall!  Thanks, Mom, for your help! We are a power team; we rocked it!

Not sure I even believe this because it still seems so surreal, but this baby will be on the market NEXT WEEK!  

Wahhhhhh!

- Spring Cleaning with Young Living -

We came home yesterday to a package on our porch, and it just so happened to be our monthly autoship from Young Living!  Harper loves helping me open and put away the goodies, and I am SUPER excited about this month's {free} promos .....whiiiich included Thieves hand soap, dish soap, fruit and veggie soak, annnnnd household cleaner!

Yes, please!

And using plant-based products that are {free! and also} free from SLS, SLES, dyes, formaldehyde, phosphates, synthetic perfumes, and harsh chemicals?! 

YES, PLEASE!!! 

Spring cleaning success and safety be ours! 

- Mommin' REAL hard... -

...'cause Mommin' IS hard! 

I'm not sure if I have a foggy memory or if my mom just always had her sh*t together [likely the latter], but one of my earliest childhood memories is going to all these laid back "coffees" at her friends' houses.  All the moms would be sitting in the dining room by a coffee cake with perfectly drizzled frosting and sipping their steaming coffees, and the kids would dart off into the living room or basement and play the day away.  We would go home when it was time for lunch and naps.  Then, every night, my mom would prepare a home-cooked dinner that was piping hot when my dad walked through the door at 5:15pm.  He would give her a kiss on the lips and a couple butt squeezes juuuuust to get a rise out of my brother and me, and then we would all sit down and have dinner together.

ANYWAY...where was I going with this?! Oh, yes.  So I was thinking back on all of these picture-perfect childhood memories the other day and realizing:  my current life state of chaos is not mirroring this at all!!!  I love our sweet babies more than life itself, but!  Where are all the cool moms that host those "coffees?!"  I realize my fluctuating states of sanity have a lot to do with Brian building the house and usually being gone and all, but some days are soooo long and the battles are soooo many and my patience wears soooo thin; and then I walk into a situation like this, and ohhhhhhhhhh, my Lawd...  SOMEONE, SEND HELP!!!  #icanteven

^^ There just isn't enough coffee or margaritas [make that coffee AND margaritas] to diffuse this!  I mean, I honestly have no idea how this could all get accomplished in a not-that-long amount of time, but I suppose 'tis life with a three-year-old threenager packrat and I'll just shrug my shoulders and leave it at that.  ...MEANWHILE, as Harper and I were furiously cleaning and putting toys back in their bins, Scarlett disappeared for juuuust enough seconds to dump the basket of toys in the living room AND dismember an entire box of tissues. 

The next day looked like this:
...and the next day like this:

...and holyyyyy schmoly, messes here, messes there, MESSES MESSES EVERYWHEREEE, and my mind is more or less just minutes from exploding!  How again is it possible that two mini humans can make such a massive MESS?!??

Then! You think I'd know by now that >30 seconds of silence is never a good thing, but nope! That same day, while changing Thing 2's poop diaper, I heard the proud voice of Thing 1 yelling, "BOOOOTY-ful!!!" from the master bathroom:

^^ L to the O to the L.  ...Not too bad, actually!  Only problem was that she used my concealer brush to apply the eyeshadow and it was coated up in thurr reallllll thick and dark and so! Black circles under the eyes be forever mine.  Following the DIY makeup counter event, I donned the most appropriate shirt I owned and packed us up to GET OUTTA DA' HOUSE. 

And *ding ding ding!* -- that was the key! Getting out of the house day after day and leaving the dishes and laundry and messy ole' house behind to suffer was definitely the answer.  Woot! We recently got a membership to the children's museum in town...

...and signed up for more classes at the YMCA.

We always enjoy Tuesday morning preschool lab at the library...

...and sometimes we even stoop to the level of visiting the pet store juuuuust for a little extra bit of sanity! Scarlett loves watching the mice run around and the fish swim, and Harper loves showing Emma all around the store, too. 

...Would it be bad if I maybe just left them there -- snuggled in these super cozy dog beds -- for just 30 minutes more so I could sprint home and tidy up the house?! ;) :)

Jay to the kay, of course.

We are now looking forward to the imminent springtime so we can start playing at all the parks in town! 

OY, VEY! The days are long, but the years are so very short... I wish it wasn't so, because pretty sure shorter days and longer years would be more up my alley, but alas!  I've learned the hard way that I can't have it all [in the form of clean dishes/fresh laundry/tidy house AND happy kids] while I have tiny humans under my roof, so I'm lifting it up and learning to find joy in the small things.  I know I should be treasuring the chaos, because it most certainly won't last forever. 

And so! Cheers to these two for keeping me on my toes [amidst the messes, of course] and showing me an unconditional love that I do not deserve!!!  I love being yo' mama!

Now.......back to the original question: where are all those laid back, "I have it all together" moms who can invite the kids and me over for an old-fashioned "coffee?" Feel free to dial up this hot-mess-express anytime! ;) :)

- Harper be lovin' some continual snugs -

Visitor train presses on! 

-- Aunt Lisa + cousins Ellyana and Fiona... Brian's work made him travel to Wisconsin for two days/one night this week, and I was like 30% nervous about being home alone for 48 hours with a 10-day-old human. [I mean we survived the bachelor party on my birthday, buuut that was only ONE night til like 3am. This is way different.]  :/  Therefore, I did not complain one iota when Lisa and the girls volunteered to come one evening and keep us company! Harper was having some majorrrr screaming fits/purple-faced meltdowns [had a dry diaper and didn't want a THING to do with the boob.  Those are the only two things she's cried about in the last ten days sooo wtf?]; I don't get flustered about little crying spells, but this was up on a whole new level and I wasn't quite sure what to do with her.  Luckily, Lisa is a NOT first-time-mom and knew just what to do! She made a quick run across the street to Target and was back in a flash with some baby gas drops.  Hello, sweet relief!  Hello, momma's sanity!  Thank goodness for sister-in-laws!  *deep sigh*  Anyway, Elly and Fiona loved their new cousin after she processed those gas drops! ;) 

-- Great Great Aunt Pat and Uncle Blake...

-- Daddy's friend Andy...

 

-- Momma's work friend boss Jess and her ADORABLE children... These two [especially Nolan!] could not get enough of the baby! Loved their visit and the delicious dinner they brought. :-*

Basically, it boils down to 'dis:  Harper is soooo spoiled with visitors and snuggles that it's getting a lil' rough around here when we're home alone and I have to put her down... Kid does not want her momma to do a damn thing except rock + recline and snuggle + sleep!  Oh well; clean houses have never been my specialty and weekly showers have always been my forte sooo looks like there's not much of an issue here! ;)  Although.........if anyone reading this wants to stop by and snuggle sometime, I suppose Brian would potentially enjoy coming home to a double deal of a clean house AND a clean wife!

But that's just a potential idea.

xoxo,
Dirty Housewife

- Window Washing Wonder -

My very own window washing wonder:

My grandma LOVES washing windows, my mom "likes" it, and I despise it [plussss ain't got no time for it]. 

So all you washing fanatics come visit me anytime and wash wash wash away...and you just miiiight get a free dinner out of it! ;) 

Thanks for making our windows sparkle, Momma!!